Census 2011 - Output Area Centroids

Output Area (OA) centroids are point features that are used to link Output Areas to other ‘higher’ geographies via a ‘best-fit- match.

Each OA is assigned to an area in a higher geography by first selecting one of the postcodes in the OA as a ‘master’ postcode. The OA inherits all of the characteristics of the master postcode including its assignments to higher areas and its grid reference. The master postcode was selected using an algorithm which calculates the postcode centroid within an OA which has grid references closest to the population-weighted centre of the OA.